The clash of swords rang out, and shouts filled the icy air. My gloved fingers held tight to my sword as I sent my awareness out. Bodie and Tore must have run ahead—Tore was still a blind spot, but Bodie’s energy signature moved just beyond where Mack and Johann still hid in the trees. My Asgardian protectors were on top of the night elves, whose dark signatures flickered in and out of focus. A weakening energy pulse usually meant a life drain, and I surmised Bodie and Tore were handling their assailants pretty capably. This was going to be a short battle, so long as . . . oh, God. No!
Three fresh, black energy signatures emerged from behind the first two, and I peeked my head out from my shelter to make sure I’d seen correctly. Crap. How had we missed them? They pushed past Bodie and Tore, charging straight toward my hiding spot. Mack and Johann’s signatures blazed red. They dropped down, right in the middle of the horde, and the elves’ energy flickered. A fresh series of clangs let me know a second battle had broken out, but I didn’t worry. I knew my protectors were strong enough to take on three measly elves. I wasn’t wrong. Mack hacked up one of the assailants in the time it took Johann to back a second into a tree. They worked together to end elf number two, slicing through its black, wispy soul before turning to attack the third monster. My boys were tough—and I loved them for it.
My armor vibrated, sending a jolt surging from my cuff to my necklace. Before I could wonder what that meant, the third elf leaped over Mack and Johann, and barreled in my direction. Since a thick fog was rolling in, there was a chance he hadn’t seen me yet—maybe he was just running away. Either way, I crouched down low and steadied my blade. When he ran past the opening to my shelter, I leaped from the crevice and struck, driving my blade straight into his heart. Black mist rose from his body as he dropped to the ground. With a nausea-inducing slurp, I pulled my sword from his chest and used it to hack the mist to bits. When I’d finished, the mist was gone, and a thick puddle of black goo covered the ground around the elf’s corpse—a morbid version of a snow angel. It had been an easy kill, but I was proud of it. Instead of celebrating, I sent my energy around the mountain, checking for additional dark signatures. There were none between the summit and us—even the flickering lights near Bodie and Tore had been snuffed out. Between us, we’d killed five night elves.
And it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.
“Allie!” Tore yelled from beyond the trees. “You all right?”
“Yeah,” I called back.
“Report in,” Tore ordered.
“I’m good,” Bodie yelled.
“Me too,” Johann replied.
There was a long pause. “Mack?” Tore called out. Nothing. “Johann,” he barked. “Check on Mack.”
After a beat, Johann swore loudly. “Skit. Mack’s hurt!”
I hurdled over the carcass at my feet and bolted toward the trees. My progress was slow as my boots sank into calf-deep powder, but I pushed forward. Through the storm, I barely made out the crumpled form of my lumberjack on the snow. Oh, God. I ran faster, skidding to a stop at Mack’s side just as Tore and Bodie closed in. We hovered over our friend, swords still drawn in case of another attack.
“Talk to me, man,” Tore urged.
Mack lay on the snow in the fetal position. His hands clutched his upper leg, and his teeth clamped down on his bottom lip. He looked like he was in agony. When I bent down to get a closer look, I noticed the blackening blob deep in his left thigh.
“Tore.” I pointed. “Look.”
Tore swore. “Dark magic.”
Mack’s body twitched in a convulsion. I met Tore’s gaze. “Can I heal this?”
“I’d love to say yes.” Tore furrowed his brow. “But you have no training with dark maladies, no crystals to withdraw the energy, and I can’t show you what to do because an injury of this magnitude is far beyond what I’m capable of dealing with.”
My left palm itched with energy, and I knew I had to try to help my friend. Forget finding Gud Morder, our top priority had just become keeping Mack alive. There was no way he could make it down the mountain in this state . . . and no guarantee that the storm would let up enough for us to call the Bifrost, even if he could. Our only option was to heal him. And if Tore couldn’t do it, then that left me. Something deep inside told me that if I trusted my power, I’d be able to do this. The truth resonated through my cells.
I drew a breath and channeled Tore’s bossy voice. “Johann, Bodie, protect the perimeter while I heal him,” I ordered. They looked at each other and nodded.
“On it.” Bodie moved a few feet away, and raised his weapon.
“Whatever you say, boss.” Johann took the opposite side.
Tore groaned. “Allie, we don’t have a vessel to trap the dark energy. If it gets into you, then—”
“It won’t,” I said fiercely. Tore dropped to his knees beside me and gripped his glowing weapon tight in his hands.
“Fine. I’ll do my best to help you. I saw my mother do this. Her assistant always held the dark magic in place until she could extract it, so it couldn’t attach to another host before she banished it. Usually they’d channel it into a holding crystal or a vial, but since we’re lacking in those we’ll need to get creative.”
I frowned, losing my confidence. We needed to hold the dark energy in place? As if it heard us plotting against it, the dark blob crept higher up Mack’s thigh. Tore laid his blue sword just below Mack’s groin, and the energy moved back down. Note to self: darkness hates our blades. Check.
“Argh!” Mack’s agonized cry filled the frosty air, and I hurriedly crafted an energy bowl with my left hand. Next, I lay my right hand on Mack’s thigh, setting my palm directly on top of the dark blob. The moment I came into contact with the angry energy, an ice-cold pain shot through my arm and jabbed at my heart. The darkness wanted to use me as its next host. Hell no, darkness. I pushed against the cold, and it slowly pulled away from my heart, moving upward toward my necklace. The stone seemed to be drawing the poison out of me. With a sudden surge, the darkness shot from my necklace into my armor, holding there as a blue healing glow formed in my right palm.
“Holy Hel.” Tore sounded shocked, but I drowned him out. The portion of the blob still within Mack’s leg fought against me with everything it had, and I couldn’t let anything break my concentration. The darkness was divided now—half trapped in my armor, and half recoiling from the blue light at my palm. It tried to move away from my hand, inching back up Mack’s thigh, but when it reached Tore’s weapon it recoiled with a hiss. Instinctively, I knew I needed to suck the darkness out of Mack’s leg through my hands, but after what I’d felt that first time, I didn’t want to chance it breaking through to my heart. Instead, I directed my blue light to surround the blob. Once it was fully encompassed, I opened my hand centers and drew my palm back. The energy followed my intention, slowly inching out of Mack’s leg and up into my arm.
Mack let out an ear-splitting scream.
“I am so sorry, Mack.” I flinched.